AF RESERVE MONOGRAPH OPERATION DESERT SHIELD RESERVISTS AT SHARJAH:

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          tendon, kidney stone, Graves disease, fever, swollen ear drums, upper
          respiratory disorder, and sinus.64
             
          		The Volunteers Return 
         
        		 Many of those who deployed arrived in Sharjah only a few days
         before the unit had to return to the US, but the majority of volunteers felt
         that it had been a worthwhile experience and that they had proved that not
         only could they fulfill their wartime tasking, but they could lead the Air Force
         Reserve response to that tasking. The proof was the air base they had built
         on a remote site on the Arabian Peninsula.
         
         		In a speech delivered to the Atlanta, Georgia, Chamber of
         Commerce in Atlanta on 13 March 1991, Donald B. Rice, Secretary of the
         Air Force, spoke highly of accomplishments of the 94 TAW. He noted that
         when a call went out for volunteers for C-130 deployments, the reservists
         came through. "They set up bare base operations, flew theater airlift under
         the command of Col Jack Blair, and held a 100 percent mission
         effectiveness rate despite harsh conditions."65
         
         		Included among the many congratulatory messages to the unit
         was one from John W. Limbert, Consul General to Dubai, who wrote,
         
                 "The success of both air and ground missions
                 throughout the Desert Shield theater of operations is a
                 credit to the hard working men and women of the 94th
                 TAW (deployed. Your contribution to stability in the
                 Middle East and to the preservation of international
                 order has been a matter of vital importance to the
                 United States and to world peace."66
         
         		General Hansford T. Johnson, Commander in Chief, Military Airlift
         Command, also had special praise for the 94th stating that the unit led the
         Air Force Reserve response when it deployed to a remote site and built an
         air base "from the ground up."
         
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            64 Msg, 94 TAW/CC to 4 AF/CC, "Manning Update/General Info (Msg 2)).
         
            65 Blair Intvw.
         
            66 Ltr, Consul General to the Men and Women of the 94th Tactical Airlift
         Wing (Deployed), 13 Sep 90.
         
                 

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